Better Wraith Than Never

“Fitting it on posters is sometimes a bit problematic!”, jokes multi-instrumentalist Enda Bates.

“It’s a name that nobody else is going to use! And you remember it!” chips in frontman Allen Blighe.
Hot Press is seated in a Dublin hotel chatting to two-fifths of The Spook Of The Thirteenth Lock about their unusual moniker, excellent second album The Brutal Here And Now, conquering Japan and writing songs in Italian.
“The thirteenth lock is on the Royal Canal near Lucan,” explains mainman Allen Blighe. “It’s the title of an Arthur Griffith poem that just has a certain atmosphere that we liked so we went for it.”
The outfit, who Blighe describes as ‘an Irish alternative folk rock band’, are on the cusp of releasing their second long-player, following on from 2008’s acclaimed eponymous debut which garnered rave reviews.
Blighe feels the latest effort is a more cohesive offering than its predecessor.
“I think in terms of the sound, it is more consistent throughout,” he nods. “The last album was more split into two halves between the guitar rock and then the more folkier acoustic songs. This time it is more a compromise between the two.”
The band’s rich sonic tapestries embrace folk, prog, rock, trad and a multitude of other forms. But Blighe is clear when the question of lineage is posed.
“It is carrying on a tradition from bands like The Pogues, Horslips, Thin Lizzy and going back to Planxty and the Irish take on the folk revival,” he explains. “We are fusing popular music with older traditional sounds.”
As well as Irish trad, the band were influenced by many different ethnic folk musics on their current record.
“My wife is Italian, so I spend a lot of time in Italy,” states Allen. “The Tarantella, which is folk music from the south-east of Italy, has a very interesting rhythm and a big similarity to Irish trad, and that’s an influence we wanted to bring in. We also have an interest in Indian folk music, and I suppose we would have seen how people like John Fahey would have taken Indian ragas into the blues tradition and got some very nice sounds.”
“The one thing that we took from the folk we listened to were the tempo changes,” muses Enda. “Trad tends to be at a very fixed tempo so it’s trying to get these speed ups and slow downs and these dynamic shifts in tempo, which can be quite dramatic when you pull them off.”
Enda, in his non-Spook life is an award-winning composer, but laughs this off when I mention it.
“At the moment I split my time between teaching in Trinity in the music technology masters programme, and composing,” says Enda. “I have been kept busy, I just finished a piece for the Symphony Orchestra and a piece from the Crash Ensemble.”
Enda also produced and mixed the first album, but felt this was a “little too much” and that the second has benefitted from “having fresh ears”, in the form of producer Steve Shannon.
“I am in another band with Brian the drummer, a progressive loud rock group called The Hounds, and we had done some recording with Steve and it was just the best craic,” says Allen. “So this time I thought we gotta use Steve!”
The album includes song lyrics in Irish and Italian. The latter explained by the wife, why choose to dabble in the cúpla focal?
“A guy from RnaG, Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí, who took a shine to the first album challenged me to write two songs in Irish in six weeks,” says Allen. “It only took me two years!”
“I certainly wouldn’t be fluent in Italian or Irish, so it took a lot of time,” he continues. “The Irish was harder than the Italian which is a bit sad. But it was an interesting challenge. When you are writing lyrics in a language you’re not fluent in language you are not fluent in because it simplifies the palette, you have to think differently about how you will say what you want to say. I’d like to try to do more in Irish, there aren’t enough Irish bands trying to do that.”
As well as many successful domestic gigs, the band also impressively have a Japanese tour under their belts.
“The benefits of having a Dublin/Japanese label!” laughs Enda.
(The band are signed to Transduction Records established in Japan by ex-pat Patrick Nesbitt.)
“The response was really good,” notes Enda. “You forget how well Irish trad travels! The Japanese crowds are very different, they actually listen in between songs and are quiet, so it’s quite a contrast to here.”
“While we were in Tokyo we did go into this legendary bootleg shop and they insisted on getting us to sign a few CDs,” says Allen. “So if you go into that shop, we’re up on the wall beside Metallica and Anthrax!”
Closer to home one of their live highlights to date was Electric Picnic in 2009.
“The bad thing about that festival was playing at the same time as My Bloody Valentine. I was thinking twice about going to my own gig!” smiles Enda.

The Brutal Here And Now is launched in Whelan's on April 13.